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Kenya: Soccer - Performance-Based Contracts Could End Rows
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The Nation (Nairobi)
COLUMN
3 May 2008
Posted to the web 2 May 2008
Charles Nyende
The other day, I had a chat with the Kenya Football Federation senior vice-chairman, Titus Kasuve. We invariably talked about football matters - the politics, structural developments, Harambee Stars, women football, the lack of money and such like stuff that people passionate about the sport will engage in.
Now, I know certain folks may not like Kasuve. They consider him brash, forceful, pugnacious, domineering, even arrogant. Some of his detractors even go as far as saying he has little background in football and should not be heading an organisation that manages the game in this country.
Who said you have to have a background in a particular sport to manage it? But that is a topic for another column.
Kasuve introduced to me a plan the KFF is exploring that I found interesting, even sensible. He said that in future the KFF would consider hiring (in this case the technical bench) and calling up (in this case the players) personnel to Harambee Stars and any another national team, on a performance-based arrangement.
"We want a situation where we hire a coach based on his performance. If he wins this or that match we pay him this much. If he qualifies Kenya for a tournament, we pay him so much.
"Same case with the players. We are considering a situation where we pay them based on their performance. This matter of all national team players demanding payment from the federation even when they have failed to perform is ridiculous. The national team is not a place to make money," Kasuve said with conviction.
And I thought to myself, why not? On top of raising motivation, it will partly kill this now tired incidents of players going on strike over unpaid allowances. They have become so regular they are almost a non-story.
Recently, the Kenya Under-17 team, eliminated in the preliminary round of the Africa Under-17 championship qualifiers, threatened to strike over unpaid allowances. During Kenya's failed campaign at the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup in Dar es Salaam last year, Harambee Stars players on several occasions threatened to boycott training over unpaid out-of-pocket money.
Cases of threatened boycotts are almost synonymous with Harambee Stars. Other national teams are no exceptions. Volleyball, rugby, name it.
The interesting thing is that when our national football team players are agitating for their allowances, a look at their performance offers little sympathy.
Parameters
The guys are being beaten left, right and centre. So, as Kasuve is arguing, why should we pay them? What would you think of a carpenter who has worsened the creaking on your door and is demanding more payment?
If you look at the business world, you get paid when you deliver, period. Contracts are routinely grounded on performance parameters.
Kasuve also talked about players making their money in clubs which do pay them for their services. The more successful the club the higher the wage figure.
A call-up to the national team should be an opportunity for the players to enhance their careers by fighting for glory. Winning should by the one and only aim. Then if you are paid - bonus, allowance, appearance fee - for winning, everybody will be happy.
This allowance debacle has simply got to stop. As Kasuve says, when you are called up to the national team, the federation is paying for your accommodation, training facilities, coaching and presenting you with the honour of donning the Kenya colours.
But would KFF keep their part of the bargain in any performance-based contract with the team considering the federation's tattered image? I will challenge the federation to make public such contracts and swear they would resign if they failed to keep their part of the bargain.
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Can you imagine the federation, for example, signing a contract with Harambee Stars players to share gate revenue on an agreed percentage should the team win a home international. Now, that is a motivator. And the beauty is, it is based on performance.
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